ajnthony Posted June 26, 2016 Share Posted June 26, 2016 Had a pretty successful fossil hunting trip today with my son at Calvert Cliffs in Maryland. Looking for confirmation on the first find as an ear bone, possibly a whale? Doesn't look much like the dolphin ones we have found. The other three we were hoping someone might be able to give some suggestions on what they be. I'll have to add others to another post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajnthony Posted June 26, 2016 Author Share Posted June 26, 2016 Item 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajnthony Posted June 26, 2016 Author Share Posted June 26, 2016 Item 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajnthony Posted June 26, 2016 Author Share Posted June 26, 2016 Item 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guguita2104 Posted June 27, 2016 Share Posted June 27, 2016 I agree with cetacean ear bone on the first one (maybe whale) . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrieder79 Posted June 27, 2016 Share Posted June 27, 2016 #1 is the same shape as the whale earbones I regularly find, but It is much smaller. Might be a smaller species of whale or juvenile. Not sure if porpoises have similar shaped ear bones. Luck is the most important skill of a fossil diver. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ynot Posted June 27, 2016 Share Posted June 27, 2016 #1 is a ceatation ear bone-- a bulla. There are 2 ear bones-- bulla and periotic. The ear bones do not change in size during growth. The rest of Your finds look like unidentifiable bone fragments. Tony Darwin said: " Man sprang from monkeys." Will Rogers said: " Some of them didn't spring far enough." My Fossil collection - My Mineral collection My favorite thread on TFF. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajnthony Posted June 27, 2016 Author Share Posted June 27, 2016 Thanks for all the replies! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doushantuo Posted June 27, 2016 Share Posted June 27, 2016 (edited) Nummela/Thewissen: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ar.20528/pdf Nummela(NATURE):2004: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/8404089_Eocene_evolution_of_whale_hearing Edited June 27, 2016 by doushantuo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boesse Posted June 27, 2016 Share Posted June 27, 2016 HI all, The earbone is an odontocete ("dolphin") tympanic bulla, but too incomplete to tell from what - there's several different candidates, though I'd bet it was from a eurhinodelphinid. Second specimen I think is a partial squamosal of an odontocete. Third specimen is an exoccipital of a small cetacean. Bobby 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CraigHyatt Posted June 27, 2016 Share Posted June 27, 2016 HI all, The earbone is an odontocete ("dolphin") tympanic bulla, but too incomplete to tell from what - there's several different candidates, though I'd bet it was from a eurhinodelphinid. Second specimen I think is a partial squamosal of an odontocete. Third specimen is an exoccipital of a small cetacean. Bobby I know you do this for a living and all, but I still amazes me no end when you come up with these identifications. "That? Oh, that's just the astragalus of the left rear flipper of a 66 year old male sea turtle with a slight case of arthritis and a heart condition. I see those all the time." :-D Info: Craig Hyatt, retired software/electrical engineer Experience: Beginner, fossil hunting less than a year Location: Eagle Pass, TX USA on the border with Mexico, hot dry desert Formation: Escondido, Marine, Upper Cretaceous Materials: Sandstone, Mudstone, Shale, Chert, Chalk Typical: Thalassinoides, Sphenodiscus, Exogyra, Inoceramus Reference: http://txfossils.com/Txfossils.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmaier Posted June 27, 2016 Share Posted June 27, 2016 "That? Oh, that's just the astragalus of the left rear flipper of a 66 year old male sea turtle with a slight case of arthritis and a heart condition." ... "and he liked to be scratched behind the ear and called Bob by his friends" ... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CraigHyatt Posted June 27, 2016 Share Posted June 27, 2016 ... "and he liked to be scratched behind the ear and called Bob by his friends" ... ... Called Bob by his friends ... Arthritis in all 4 flippers? Info: Craig Hyatt, retired software/electrical engineer Experience: Beginner, fossil hunting less than a year Location: Eagle Pass, TX USA on the border with Mexico, hot dry desert Formation: Escondido, Marine, Upper Cretaceous Materials: Sandstone, Mudstone, Shale, Chert, Chalk Typical: Thalassinoides, Sphenodiscus, Exogyra, Inoceramus Reference: http://txfossils.com/Txfossils.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajnthony Posted June 28, 2016 Author Share Posted June 28, 2016 HI all, The earbone is an odontocete ("dolphin") tympanic bulla, but too incomplete to tell from what - there's several different candidates, though I'd bet it was from a eurhinodelphinid. Second specimen I think is a partial squamosal of an odontocete. Third specimen is an exoccipital of a small cetacean. Bobby Thank you very. These are great starting points for research with my 6 year old son who loves researching fossils that we find. Thanks again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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